Humidifying system



June 22,v 1937. P. L. SCOTT HUMIDIFYING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 15, 1930 temperature conditions existing at the time.

Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HUMIDIFYING SYSTEM Application December 15, 1930, Serial No. 502,382

13 Claims.

My invention relates to systems for controlling and regulating the humidity of air, and especially humidifying systems for domestic uses.

The desirability of maintaining the humidity of air at a temperature best suited to comfort and health in a dwelling is well known. A satisfactory system for household use must combine a reasonable degree of efiiciency with reasonably cheap cost. Heretofore the systems pro-posed have comprised, generally, some automatically controlled method of evaporating water into a heated, moving air stream. It has not been possible to introduce the moisture directly into the air in the room, since the spraying systems available have produced a water supply so coarse in character as to sink to the floor in the coldest part of the room-where evaporation is very slow and takes place actually from the surface. One object of my invention is to introduce the water directly into the air in such fine particles that it will remain suspended for a considerable period of time, suflicient to permit the necessary application of heat from the air required to convert the moisture into a stable vapor under the pressure and In one form of my invention this may be accomplished by means of a high pressure hydraulic pump automatically controlled and feeding one or a series of humidifying atomizers placed about the dwelling in the most desirable positions to maintain a uniform humidity of the desired percentage. Either the pump or the nozzle, or both, are controlled by an automatic device functioning to control nozzle or pump operation as the humidity varies between certain limits. Such a humidifying system does not have the disadvantage of devices at present common to the art of raising the humidity of a certain portion of the air in the house to a high percentage and then requiring that this air shall distribute itself, usually by the natural, irregular drafts in the house,

' throughout the entire structure.

Another object of my invention is to control the humidity within the desired limits in each separate part of the dwelling without complication or undue cost of the mechanism.

In a preferred form of the system there is an electric motor located in the basement, or in to the atomizing nozzle, located as desired in the room or rooms of the dwelling, and in each room may also be located anautomatic humidity controlling device, of which there is a variety available on the market. These controlling devices operate the atomizer through an electric relay, and upon functioning cause one or more of the atomizers to come into operation and at the same time start the electric motor to deliver Water under pressure.

Other forms and arrangements embodying the same principles may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Other objects will appear from time to time in the specification and drawing.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sketch of the humidifying system, embodying a plurality of atomizers;

Figure 2 is a cross section of the high pressure hydraulic pump and its driving motor;

Figure 3 is a cross section of a simple form of atomizing nozzle; and

Figure 4 is a cross section of the automatically controlled atomizing nozzle, differing from that of Figure 2 by the inclusion of control mechanism.

Like parts are designated by like characters throughout the specification and drawing.

In referring to Figure l, A is an electric motor driving a high pressure hydraulic pump B, connected to a water supply D by means of the pipe D E is a high pressure conduit leading from the pump to a series of atomizing nozzles E E and E F F and F are a series of automatic humidity controlled regulators connected to a source of electric power by-means of the cables F F and F and connected to the spray nozzles by means of the cables F F and F The automatic humidity regulators are also connected in parallel to the electric motor by means of the cables F F and F Referring to Figure 2, a is an electric motor, on the shaft of which is positioned the driving gear a B is a high pressure hydraulic pump, upon the shaft B of which is positioned the driven gear B meshing with the gear a 13 is a crank case for said pump, and B is its housing. 13 is an eccentric rod journaled on the eccentric B. B is a slider block driving the pump plunger B and connected to the eccentric rod by the pin B B is the main pump body, containing within it the bore B which carries the pump plunger B Leading into the bore B is an inlet valve assembly, comprising the cage B the valve B the valve spring B and the combined assembly nut and inlet connection B 13 is a plug sealing the end of the bore B and seated upon a gasket B Also leading into the bore B is an outlet valve assembly, comprising the cage B the valve B, the valve spring B and the combined assembly nut and outlet member B Connected to this outlet is a high pressure pipe B sealed to the outlet by means of the connection B Referring to Figure 3, C is a simple form of valve body, having an inlet bore C in which is located the inlet connection member C tached to the inlet connection member C is the high pressure pipe B leading from the pump by Way of E. This pipe is held to the end of the member C by means of the nut C is a valve stem bore, containing within it the valve stem C and the separate seat member C upon which rests the valve head 0". The valve'stem C is threaded at one end C and the tension may be adjusted by means of the adjusting nut C C is a packing surrounding the valve stem, compressed by the gland nut C Referring to Figure 4, C is. an electrical solenoid, into which current may be fed by the electric cable C C is a fixed core'member lying within the solenoid and positioned by the plate C C is a movable core member positioned within the coil 0 and guided by the plate 0 The member C which is fastened to move with the member C carries upon its outward end the control valve 0 which is normally held upon its seat C by means of the spring C C is a passage from the high pressure conduit B to the valve stem bore 0.

G G and G are radiators which may be of any suitable type and may be heated in any conventional manner and may be located one in each room. Their heating connections are not shown.

In Figure 1 three atomizers of the type shown in detail in Figure 4 have been shown and three radiators. This is to suggest three rooms with an atomizer in each room and a radiator in each room. Obviously in a dwelling their might be some rooms which would have no atomizer or which would have no radiator and in some rooms there might be more than one atomizer and more than one radiator, an essential thing being that atomizers are provided at suitable pointsand in suitable numbers to maintain the desired degree of humidity, and that warmed air is provided directly or indirectly within the building. While I have shown and described an installation in which several rooms are concerned and in which several atomizing apparatuses and controls are contemplated, of course, my invention might be utilized where the complete installation would include only a single atomizer. In some cases the motor may be closely associated with the atomizer and need not be situated in any particular fixed location. For example, the motor and atomizer and the control device, either manual or automatic, of whatever nature it may be, may all be associated in .a single installation or movable or portable structure. Where the device is portable it may be moved from room to room and plugged in or otherwise operated and its control may be automatic and conform gen erally to the control shown in the drawing or it may be manual. In. the case of the movable device a water supply might be carried about with the device or a water connection with any other water supply source may be provided.

Where more than one atomizer is used, there All".

may be a plurality operating simultaneously without the necessity of separate controls and in which there is no electrical control such as that shown in Figure l, within the individual atomizer,

Where in the description of the use and operation which occurs below I refer to a plurality of atomizing nozzles and their controls, in describ ing the operation of these parts, it will be un derstood, of course, that the description is to be considered as describing in addition the operation of a single atomizer in case the system ineludes only that single atomizer.

Thus a complete installation might include one or more of the atomizer assemblies, either in'the form shown in Figure 3, or in the form shown in Figure 4'. If the form of Figure 3 is used the amount of fluid atomized into the air is controlled for the system as a whoie, manually or otherwise. If the form shown in Figure 4 is used, the amount of moisture atomized controlled for each individual atomizer assembly by the humidity controlled mechanism, including the regulator F F or F theassociated parts and the controlling and valve operating mechanism shown in detail in Figure 4. tion of fluid into the air, when either form of the control is used, remains the same, the fluid issuing past the valve head (3", seated in the seat member C The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

A number of atomizingnozzles, together with their associated electrical humidity affected controls, are located at points in the dwelling or building, in which it is desired to maintain a certain degree of humidity, at points found by experience and trial to be most suitable. The high pressure water supply system is located in any convenient spot, with consideration for the nature of the apparatus, preferably in the basement of the dwelling where noise will not be a disturbing factor. A low pressure water inlet is led to the high pressure supply pump. The water is preferably taken from a source of hot water, which thereby saves introduction of a certain amount of heat energy at a later period in the process. High pressure piping-is led from the pump to the various valves, the valves allbeing open to the same high pressure circuit.

The individual humidity controls have two functions; the first is to open or close the specific atomizer with which it is associated, and the second is to start or stop the motor of the high pressure pump. It is of course possible to operate a single nozzle directly as the result of supply pressure or it may be desirable tooperate a plurality of atomizer nozzles simultaneously as the result of pump pressure. In such cases no sepa rate automatic control of the atomizers is necessary. Assuming that the humidity in a specific room has fallen below the point for which the humidity control is set, an electric switch within the humidity control is thrown automatically to the closed position, energizing two electric circuits. One circuit starts the electric motor driving the supply pump. The other circuit operates the solenoid within the atomizing valve.

The movable core member within the solenoid'is then attracted to the stationary member and the high pressure valve is opened against the resist ance of the spring, which normally holds the control valve seated against pressure in the system and makes the particular atomizer inoperative. This action may or may not takev place before the pump starts. ,7 H

The final introduepump starts,

For conripactness, it is preferable "to have pressure applied to the control valve to partially balance the springload, thereby requiring the solenoid to; overcome only a small load to cause the final valve opening and permit the operation of the atomizer. Since the humidity control "energizes themotor at the same instantthat the solenoid is energized, thissuccession of functions may occur in either order, preferably in'the one described. It is obvious that as soonas the pressure will be built up in the system.

' Should the humidity drop in more than one room at one time, twoor more humidity controls Will function and two or more valves will open.

Since thehumidity controls are in parallel with of the atomizer. 'The valve stem is designed to head. This stretching of the wire is in the order of magnitude 'of .0001". This permits an extremely thin film of Water to be ejected; It has been-found by experiment that when a water film is reduced to such extremely thin dimensions, the water is divided into particles commensurate in size with the infinitesimal droplets in afog or cloud. It-is also apparent'that water issuing from such an orifice will attain extremely high velocityandwill be projected a considerable distance into the air. Water droplets of such dimensions have the property of remaining suspended in the air for a considerable length of time. This will permit heat energy to be added to this moisture sufiicient to convert it into a stable vapor at the pressure and temperature existing in the room before it has the opportunity to sink upon the floor. It is also possible in such systems as this to introduce some of the energy requisite for conversion of a liquid into a vapor by the mechanical process of atomization. The Water so introduced into the room raises the humidity of the air and afiects the humidity control. The humidity control must be placed, as the result of experience and trial, in a position to respond to the change in moisture content in the air with reasonable rapidity.

As soon as the humidity control is affected by the increase of moisture, the switch within the control is thrown to the open position and the motor stops. At thesame time the circuit energizing the solenoid is broken and the control valve within the atomizer closes, leaving the specific atomizer afiected inoperative against the further operation of the pump if started by another atomizer in the system.

I claim:

1. In a humidifying system, an atomizer, a liquid supply, a conduit from said supply to said atomizer, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizer, a stop means for said atomizer, a control means for said atomizer, said control means adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the atomizer for operation.

2. In a humidifying system, an atomizer positioned in a relatively enclosed space, a liquid supply, a conduit from said supply to said atomizer, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizer, a stop means for said atomizer, a control means for said atomizer, positioned in the space within which said atomizer is positioned,said control means being automatically humidity responsive and adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the atomizer for operation.

4 3. In a humidifying system, a plurality of atomizers positioned inrelativelyenclosed spaces, a v liquid supp1y,'a conduit from said supplyto said atomizers, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizers, a stop means for each of said atomizers, a control means for each oi? said atomizers, said control means adapted to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the particular atomizer for operation.

4. In a humidifying system, a plurality of atomizers positioned in relatively enclosed spaces, a

liquid'supply, a conduit from said supply to said 'atomizers,a liquid'driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizers, a stop means for each of said atomizers, a control means for each of said atomizers, positioned in the space within which said atomizer is positioned, said control means adapted to set into operation the liquid driven means and to operate the stop means to free the particular atomizer for operation.

5. In a humidifying system, a plurality of atomizers positioned in relatively enclosed spaces, a liquid supply, a conduit from'said supply to said atomizers, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizers, a stop means for each of said atomizers, a control means for each of said atomizers, said control means being automatically humidity responsive and adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the particular atomizer for operation.

6. In a humidifying system, an atomizer positioned in a relatively enclosed space, a liquid supply, a conduit from said supply to said atomizer, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizer, a stop means for said atomizer, a control means for said atomizer, said control means adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the atomizer for operation, and a single electric circuit connecting said humidity responsive control with said liquid driving means.

7. In a humidifying system, an atomizer positioned in a relatively enclosed space, a liquid supply, a conduit from said supply to said atomizer, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizer, a stop means for said atomizer, a control means for said atomizer, positioned in the space within which said atomizer is positioned, said control means being automatically humidity responsive and adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the atomizer for operation, and a single electric circuit connecting said humidity responsive control with said liquid driving means.

8. In a humidifying system, a plurality of atomizers positioned in relatively enclosed spaces, a liquid supply, a conduit from said supply to said atomizers, a liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizers, a stop means for each of said atomizers, a control means for each of said atomizers, said conuid driving means and to operate the stop means to free the particular atomizer for operation, and a single electric circuit connecting said control means with said liquid driving means.

9. In a humidifying system, a plurality of atomizers, positioned in separate relatively enclosed spaces, a single liquid supply, a single conduit from said supply to said atomizers, a single liquid driving means for moving liquid along said conduit to said atomizers, a stop means for each of said atomizers, a control means for each of said atomizers, positioned in the space Within which said atomizer is positioned, each of said control means being automatically humidity responsive and adapted in response to humidity variations to set into operation the liquid driving means and to operate the stop: means to free the particular atomizer for operation, and a single electric circuit connecting all of said humidity responsive controls with said liquid driving means.

10. In combination in a mechanical atomizer, a housing formed with a passage therethrough, said passage having inlet and outlet openings, a discharge valve member, positioned to control the outlet opening, a stop valve member adapted in one position to prevent passage to the discharge valve and in another to permit it, said stop valve being normally held in the closed position and electrically responsive means for moving said valve to the open position to permit the passage of fluid through said valve housing to the discharge valve member.

11. In combinationin a mechanical atomizer, a housing formed with a passage therethrough, said passage having inlet and outlet openings, a discharge valve member, positioned to control the outlet opening, a stop valve member adapted in one position to prevent passage to the discharge valve and in another to permit it, said stop valve being normally yieldingly held in the closed position.

12. In combination in an. atomizer, a housing formed with a passage therethrough, said passage having inlet and outlet openings, 2. discharge valve member, positioned to control the outlet openings, a stop valve member adapted in one position to prevent passage to the discharge valve and in another to permit it, said stop valve being normally yieldingly held in the closed position, and electrically responsive means for moving said valve to the open position to permit the passage of fiuid through said valve PHILIP LANE soon. 

